Rabbi Levin's Blog

  Imagine you are Noach.  The strong rule.  Robbery is a way of life.  Adultery is normal.   Hashem is non-existent in people’s consciousness.  People believe in the power of idols and the power of the Elites.   What kind of inner strength would it take for one person, or even an entire family, to decide that this is not the way to live?  Now you may say that if Hashem appeared to you, you would also follow His instructions.  Maybe or maybe not, as we have seen throughout history. But more importantly, Hashem appeared to Noach because he was “completely righteous.” He and his wife chose to live a moral life even before Hashem spoke to him. Now imagine the derision and harassment you would receive while building the Ark by hand and telling people there will be a flood.   The people of his generation made fun of this one 500-year-old man with the fantastic claim that the whole world would be destroyed for its robbery and immorality.  They even threatened that if a flood did come, they wo

  Human animals. That is how one of my teachers insisted on referring to human beings.  "We are the same as all the animals," she said, "except that we can speak."   It didn't sit well with me.  Although I was a young kid, I knew that Hashem had created us as unique creatures, and there was much more to us than just being human animals.  You have probably heard the story about a kid who asks her mother how we got here.  She tells her that in the beginning there was nothing and then Hashem created everything, including human beings, whom He created from the earth and blew life into his nostrils.  She then asks her father, who tells her we evolved from monkeys.  She goes back to her mother confused and asks her about what Dad said.  “Oh,” says the mother, “he's talking about his side of the family.”   As I grew up, I noticed a marked difference in the Torah’s description of all of creation and that of the human.  Hashem created the mineral world to exist const

  Chag Sameach and happy Chol Hamoed.   A holiday with so many themes!  Sukkot is a time of joy, a time of unity, a time of gathering, a time of spiritual growth, a time to celebrate our precious heritage – the Torah.  Special Mitzvot for this holiday include the Sukkah, the Four Species, celebrating and dancing throughout the holiday, dancing with the Torah, special prayers, special meals and more. This is a holiday of sharing.  It is customary to invite people to join us in the Sukkah, to share the Mitzvah of the Four Species with those who don’t have, to share meals and celebrations and events in the Synagogue, and in general people try to spend time together with family and friends.  And of course Simchat Torah is a great day of gathering, dancing and celebrating with the Torah. Gathering is especially important this year, a year of Hakhel .  It is a time for men, women and children, even very young children, to get together to strengthen our connection to Hashem and our heritage. 

  Our Sages taught that during these days between Yom Kippur and Sukkot people don’t have time to sin. This is based on a Midrash, which says:  You shall take for yourselves on the first day [of Sukkot] … (an etrog, lulav, willows and myrtles).  The Midrash says that the words “the first day,” in addition to the simple meaning of the first day of the holiday, alludes to “the first day of accumulating sins.”     During Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the year, and Yom Kippur, and the days in between, we are involved in Teshuva. On Yom Kippur we achieve atonement and are like righteous people. Then come the four days of preparation for Sukkot.    We build a Sukkah and cover it with branches. We buy the four species ( we still have some available to order ), cook for the holiday and study its laws and customs. We read about the spiritual and mystical meanings of the holiday and its observance.    Doesn’t leave any time for sin. These four days, Chassidus tells us, correspond to the four l